Cryptocurrency: A Quick Guide

Cryptocurrency: A Quick Guide

'Crypto' is any form of digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography to secure transactions.

Cryptocurrency: A Quick Guide

Quite simply, cryptocurrency is digital money. It does not exist in the real world. There are no physical coins, or bills associated with it. It is not like stocks, real estate, jewelry, art, gold, and other valued metals. Cryptocurrency has no use or value other than the possession of it.  Cryptocurrencies are not associated to valuable assets — they are not tied to anything of value in the real world, and this often causes the ‘value’ to fluctuate erratically. 

By Mahinroop PM

‘Crypto’ Defined

Cryptocurrency or ‘crypto’ is any form of digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography to secure transactions and advanced coding to store and transmit cryptocurrency data between wallets and public ledgers. Cryptocurrencies do not have a central regulatory authority and they use a decentralized system to record transactions. Cryptocurrency is a digital payment system that does not rely on banks to verify transactions. Cryptocurrency is a peer-to-peer system which enables anyone to send and receive payments anywhere in the world.  The cryptocurrency payments exist as digital entries to an online database featuring specific transactions. The transactions are recorded in a public ledger when cryptocurrency funds are transferred and cryptocurrency is stored in digital wallets.

Bitcoin Emerges

The ultimate aim of cryptocurrency encryption is to provide privacy, security and safety. Bitcoin, was founded in 2009, and was the first cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is unquestionably the best known cryptocurrency and is traded like other entities for profit. Skyrocketing prices make cryptocurrency hugely popular among speculative and passionate investors. Other clever and passionate crypto investors use ‘mining’ to make money.

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Elon Musk’s Bitcoin U-Turn

Elon Musk’s Bitcoin U-Turn:

Nothing But PR & Energy Politics

By Sonnet Gomes

I was so content with my current tiny investment in Cryptocurrency, especially Bitcoin, till last night. When Elon Musk’s Bitcoin U-Turn simply throws me off the edge.

Musk’s Tweet on suspending vehicle purchase using Bitcoin not only struck a boult on me but also my itty-bitty crypto asset. No wonder I was enraged to see the price dropping, and my investment is fading away.

However, it took me a while to come to my senses (thanks to my wife for a late-night Coffee) and realize what is actually going on.

Musk’s Twitter Activity from Last Night

The entire Tweet, I am sure, will amaze almost anyone. Let’s look at a few lines of it first, and then I will dive deep into them.

  • “We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel” (O Boy, O Boy! we had no clue about it until the Tweet!)
  • “Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels, and we believe it has a promising future” (So Tesla and SpaceX are not dumping all its crypto assets because they are nothing but energy-guzzler carbon-emitting machines)
  • “Tesla will not be selling any Bitcoin, and we intend to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy” (He actually loves Bitcoin and keeping all the digital assets for future use. Wondering what it’s that? Well, the next Bitcoin big selling)

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The Emergence of Digital Currency

The Emergence of Digital Currency

By Jones William & D. S. Mitchell

“Cryptocurrency is a digital or ‘virtual’ currency that uses cryptography for security,”  Wikipedia

Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?

The first of two milestones in the development of cryptocurrency took place in 2008 and 2009.  The domain name bitcoin.org was registered on August 18th, 2008.  In 2009, a programmer/inventor known only by the pseudonym, Satoshi Nakamoto announced he had found a way to build a decentralized digital cash system.  The mysterious “Satoshi Nakamoto” published a paper “Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer Electronic Cash System”.  In his paper Nakamoto described a totally decentralized digital currency, with no server or central authority, thus setting the ball rolling for the emergence of digital currency.

Minimizing Duplication

Digital currencies use extremely complex encrypt sensitive data transfers to secure the units of exchange. In this regard, digital currency developers build complex code systems based on advanced computer engineering and mathematics principles. This approach renders them almost impossible to break, thus minimizing chances of duplication. The adopted protocols for digital currencies also help mask the identities of cryptocurrency users, thus making it difficult to attribute fund flows and transactions to specific people.

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